Our hearts are imprisoned for just one reason: The only language they can speak is truth. Unlike the mind, which can be persuaded to accept the most bizarre ideas (“Look, it’s the Hale-Bopp comet! Time to kill yourself!), your heart tells it like it is, without bothering to be tactful or socially appropriate. Free hearts rock boats, break rules, do things that disrupt the system—whether that system is a dysfunctional family, a bloated bureaucracy, or the whole wide world. –Martha Beck

I’ve come to realize one of the main reasons for my anxiety is the conflict between my mind and heart.

I never knew until recently the true difference in the two life energy sources, I just accepted the fact that my mind was telling me what my heart was saying.

There is a shift now where I am listening to my heart more and more and ignoring my mind.

My brain is composed of past hurts, failures, society expectations, negative thoughts, memories: although there is a ton of positive stuff, too.

It’s simply time to hear my heart out first and tune out the ever rampant not-so-truthful brain.

Unfortunately, my heart is quiet. I’m ready to listen but it is silenced. That is because I have imprisoned my heart for so long. I’ve told it to hush! I’ve tried to rationalize against my heart.

I’m opening up the communication slowly and will listen to every tiny whisper.

You are super happy. Something lit you up like a firework! You got the job, you are pregnant, you have some ahhmazing wedding photos: but you don’t want to share the news because you don’t want to make others feel less-than.

Or, you don’t want to be labeled as the Sunshine Girl, you don’t want to threaten others with your awesomeness.

You repress that joy and excitement.

Growing up you were told not to be “too happy” or “too boastful” or “too showey.”

That suppressed joy and excitement has taken it’s toll over the years hasn’t it?

Have you forgotten how to be excited and share the joy with others?

I have. Bigtime.

Perhaps, little by little I can open up again. I can let the drama go. I can love bigger, live happier, share my joy at any moment I want. Others need it. My lovies don’t need me to be a smaller version of myself do they?

I have tried to de-bunk positive manifestation for years. I truly wanted to believe that we just ride the waves of life and drudge through even if it is by the hairs on our head. But there is something great to this positive-thinking and positive manifestation energy.

Have you noticed when you are down in the dumps, so many things seem to go wrong. The longer the negativity, the worse it seems. One small thing leads to another and before you know it, you can barely get out of bed in the morning. Forget having any motivation whatsoever for fear that the sky might actually fall.

I’ve had been in that state for a really long time. When I was younger, I recall constantly pulling inner strength from positivity. I would purposefully be positive even in the worst of situations. I felt good. Even thought there were trials and hard times, I was still on the up and had plenty of energy to deal with whatever came my way.

Over time, that positivity dwindled down to sub zero. I’m not sure where the turn happened. At that point,I was in the dumps, and literally every day was a struggle. It was like, every where I turned something went wrong. My life seemed like it was in mass chaos and over time, it beat me down – way down.

I gave up on being positive, because honestly, I didn’t have the strength for a single positive thought because I felt it would just be a waste of what mental and physical energy I had left.

One day, I felt that I had to make a change. My plan was to simplify my life so that I had that extra energy to express positivity again. I had to get my thoughts back. My luck had run out and there was only one way to turn: I would turn my life around and get rid of the negative roadblocks and replace it with positive manifestation.

Since there is no manual for a person to follow when changing mindset, I just had to wing it.

My life is no where near perfect now, but the simple changes made along with some serious positive thinking (even when I don’t feel like it) has made a huge difference.

How to Cultivate Positive Manifestation

Change Mindset: This is sneaky because doing it for one day will not give you the immediate results you so need. It takes time. Be forgiving of yourself and allow plenty of grace. When you know you must change your thought pattern and admit to yourself that you need to switch thinking: that’s the first step. Begin by saying out loud a mantra like; “I am a positive thinker” “Today will be an amazing day” “I will laugh at my trials and enjoy this day” “I am successful.” Don’t discount the cheesiness. It’s important.

Remove Distractions: This takes time, but begin removing things that bring you down. For instance: I deactivated my Facebook, I created an entirely new Pinterest account for complete inspiration and positivity, I no longer watch the news or depressing topics, I’ve added yoga to my day instead of scrolling online. You are what you eat: food as well as what you take in every day. Replace negativity with positivity, and with time you will reap the benefit.

De-Clutter: If you have possessions in your home that are no longer serving you, it will take it’s toll. The less you have, the less you have to maintain. Begin getting rid of things that you don’t believe useful or beautiful. Start with one room at a time; or if that’s too much, one drawer at a time. Make it a positive experience. Thank every item you get rid of for serving you at one time or another and then let go. For instance: I got rid of my craft supplies and sewing machine because I felt guilty for not making time for crafting. The truth was, I didn’t want to make the time and didn’t want to spend time that way any more. I had fun in years past, but it’s not me anymore. Now, I only keep hobbies and items that serve me today, not Yesterday’s-Me or Future-Me.

Reconnect: Reconnect with your spirituality or relationships that you may have been neglecting. Pray, meditate, or phone a long lost friend. Focusing on others and spirituality will give you a deeper sense of life and remind you of your values and priorities

Time Out: Take a time out every day for yourself. It may be brief at first, but clear distractions and spend time getting to know your hopes and dreams again. Breathe. Rest. Focus.

Passion Statement: Create a passion statement where you bring your priorities to life. Be clear on what is important to you. Begin getting rid of people or things that is blocking your way so you can get down to the good stuff.

Fuel: Fuel up on good food, good rest, and good memories. Give your body a good rest and fuel to do good work. Not taking care of yourself is a sure way to get down and sickly. Begin by making choices that benefit you instead of take away.

Be That Person: Probably most important of all actually be true to yourself and behave in accordance. You want to eat better? Eat better today. You want to be a runner? Run. You want to write? Start a blog. You want to be positive? Think and intake positivity.

It’s easy to get down on ourselves, but making better choices that benefit us each and every day pay off in the end. If you would like to change your mindset, start right now. Stick with it until it becomes a habit and you see your past negative self dwindle away.

Life’s experiences, choices, and decisions all have a way of compacting over time. One decision leads to the next, and so forth. It can become really heavy with time if we do not let go of some of the past, so that way we may grow and adapt as we age.

Some choices in letting go may bring up a tinge of guilt; perhaps you feel obligated to hang on to a relationship or item just because you spent time or money on it at some point. But, if you are in a rut, or are feeling weighed down by life in general, it may be time to let it go.

If something or someone is holding you back and no longer serving you, it’s OK to start over and begin anew. That is the beauty of growing, adapting, and changing. It is totally natural to begin fresh.

If you have met your match and feel like you are carrying the world on your shoulders, it may be time to shake it up a bit.

How to let go and start fresh

Meditate: I’m not talking about sitting on a pillow with incense. I’m talking about getting some time to yourself to really inspect your insides and heart. You need to calm the outside world and internal noise long enough to really admit where you are and what you would like to change. This doesn’t have to happen in one day. As a matter of fact, it may take a really long time. But, if you are wanting the weight of the world lifted, you must put yourself first for a while and get clear on your mission.

2. Be Honest: Admit that you are not on the path you would like to be on. It’s OK, we all have been there a million times. Just because we are on one path doesn’t mean we have to stick with it if it’s no longer doing any good. Admitting that you are not happy with your current state is the best way to motivate change.

3. Dream: Having hopes and dreams can get lost in the chaos of a busy life. We get in that rut or that grind for so long taking care of families, jobs, chores, and children until we are buried under the dirt. It’s time to dig out and dig out fast. Give yourself permission to dream of where you want to be. It is reality that you can be that person if you begin dreaming again. Start a dream board, star gaze, focus on your desires with absolutely no guilt whatsoever for a change.

4. Start: Perhaps the scariest step of all, but when you get clear on the path you want to explore, and let go of extra baggage weighing you down – start. It doesn’t matter where you start because there is no perfect solution. Once you begin and have success, you may tackle the next obstacle.

5. Journey: Change doesn’t have to be drudgery. Plan to set yourself up for success. Start a blog or journal. Invite creative vibes and exploration in your journey. Call it an experiment. Write a book. You are free to change as many times as you wish. Welcome failure, that’s where you learn the most. And if you do fail (and probably will), keep going. Your only competition is YOU. The one looking back in the mirror. It’s not your friends, spouse, parents, or children competing with you. You owe it to yourself to have a little fun in life and be that person you want to be.

I wanted to talk about this because I have attempted change a million times in the past and failed. Then I let guilt get to me. I felt like I was letting everyone down. But, with a little grace and practice mixed with some perseverance and humor, change can be welcomed and fun. Life doesn’t always have to be so serious.

So, if you were wanting to make a change today – you know, that little voice that is saying disappointing things in your ear all day every day? Tell it to hush and get to work.

It’s a new day, today. Seize it. And you know what? Tomorrow will be a fresh start too. That is the biggest gift of sunrise. A new day to change, make a difference, to love, and to enjoy. And when you lie down at night, take a breath, let it all go and start again tomorrow.

It’s so easy to forget our mission in life when busyness, procrastination, clutter, and to-do-lists overtake our time. It seems a majority of us are in the cycle and it seems there is no way out. At some point, we accept it and just call it ‘adulthood.’ And once we name it, we own it. We tick through the rest of our life vaguely aware of our surroundings. Guilt seeps in when we want to take time for ourselves. We become weak, agitated, frustrated, and overwhelmed. We continue at this pace because we are supposed to.

I’d like to meet the person who told all of use that we have to live this way.

Because I truly think this ‘person’ does not exist at all.

This ‘person’ could be society. We feel that we have to compete with others and one-up our status. This one-upmanship is also known as Keeping-Up-With-The-Jones. Sure, we all agree that this keeping-up is not the best way to live – but if we are honest, we live that way anyway.

Our Facebook post has to look cuter than someone else’s. Our car has to look fancy so we can show everyone that we do, in fact, have a job and are contributing to the pot of society. The American Dream is being lived, y’all! But at the end of the day it’s no dream at all. We know it deep down, but we can’t break this cycle because we don’t want to come across as lazy, unfit, or less-than.

So, debt and possession rule our lives. It comes in between us and our families. We have no friends, because we have to work ourselves to the bone to pay for that new loveseat. It’s cute though, but unfortunately we don’t have time to host friends over because we are at work. And when we aren’t at work, we are at home cleaning, organizing, and moving around our stuff.

When our friends ask us how we have been or what we’ve been up to lately we respond:

Busy.

Yes, we have been busy. We’ve been busy trying to create a lucrative life at the hands of our employer. We’re busy thinking about acquiring a luxury lifestyle and living beyond our means.

We haven’t been busy contributing to what’s most important, which I feel safe to say is:

Family

Helping

Serving

Resting

Relaxing

Creating

Wanderlusting

Traveling

Exploring

Those are my most important things in life. And I’ve neglected those things for far too long.

It takes time to shift to a more simple, deliberate, slow lifestyle. But, when we realize that we need to change our path and begin to clear the distractions: clutter, busyness, overwhelm, we can gain clarity and shift focus to what’s truly important.

We won’t be remembered for our career, but we will be remembered for our impact.

There’s more to life than just paying bills and then you die.

I’m not willing to sacrifice my life for stuff and status. I am however, willing to sacrifice my life for change, memories, and impact.

Gaining clarity during simplifying is one of the biggest benefits to a minimalistic lifestyle. There comes a time in the process of de-cluttering and re-arranging priorities that a lightbulb goes off.

It’s that little voice that tells you:

Stop manipulating your circumstances.

Little did I know, I was a manipulator and a controller. I felt like my life was under my control every step of the way. I thought that I could go with the flow, but in reality, it was just a cover-up. One slip up or one little blip could derail me at any moment and I knew it.

That thought alone scared me half to death, not to mention gave me daily anxiety trying to keep it all together.

Thankfully, I have learned from my experiences. A job layoff got this ball rolling, it was as simple as that.

One day, my finances worked. I had a job. I could plan on things. I knew what income I had and I based my life on that. Everything that I controlled fit in this little bubble of mine.

That is, until it didn’t.

I learned so much more from losing my job besides ‘oh, shit’ I don’t have any way to pay bills or continue my lifestyle this way.

I adapted and realized that I have so much without that type of stability. My priorities and security was in my job, itself. There is more to me than that.

Letting go and simplifying creates a unique perspective. You soon realize that the clothes, makeup, fancy cars, expensive food, and junk cluttering up your house is just a cover-up. Those things are not who you are. Not even close.

When the dust fades and income is removed, or when you donate excess clutter from your life, it shows just how meaningless some of the things you put as a priority truly are.

The most empowering thing of all is figuring out what to do with less. It’s exhilarating to let go and realize that you can, in fact, survive without it.

The minimalist journey has been amazing so far. I have a little more free time at home, my house isn’t as crowded and messy, things are beginning to have a place; and more importantly I am taking more time for myself – to dream, to meditate, and to really hone in on what I want.

It’s not perfect, but it is better.

One of the things I am noticing now is my clarity is becoming more clear. I am more certain about myself and decision making isn’t such a drudgery. I have been running for so long on auto-pilot, and my daily to-do-list itself was so out of control that I didn’t have time to actually think. This in turn had manifested in continual sickness and impacting my health.

We all have a breaking point, and that was mine.

That is when I started running in the opposite direction and am currently still on the bail.

I have more time to think about things that I never could when I was on empty like:

Waste: I’ve been recently inspired by Kelly Almost Green as she shows her progress on less waste. Although, I’m not at the point where it’s my main focus, I am more thoughtful on simple choices like paper over plastic featured in my muffin pic above. I am also using my Pyrex bowls to store food instead of Ziplocks and my family is making it a point to utilize leftovers. When I shop, I purchase veggies individually without the plastic wrap. It’s the small things that add up to the big things.

Laundry: I’ve been hanging my clothes to dry skipping the dryer all together. At one time, I would have thought this was such a waste; but now I am open to change. I realize that going straight from the wash to hang saves me a lot of time and unnecessary steps.

Beauty Routine:Minimizing the products I use saves time and money. I have the exact same results as before and in some cases better; such as my skin heath by doing the caveman regimine and using natural body soap.

Capsule Wardrobe: Before, I felt like the more options I had, the better. That’s just not the case. By donating or selling items that I don’t like or don’t fit well, I now have an uncluttered closet with clothes I actually love. Getting ready in the morning is so much easier and I’m less likely to splurge on a shopping spree.

Getting balls: I realize that I have expended way more than I’ve gotten in the last decade for fear of rejection. I’m a true people-pleaser, but there has got to be more balance. I’ve forgotten my stance along the way and I now have the clarity to begin growing my balls again.

Now that I’ve implemented the action needed to reduce the excess and unnecessary in my life I can breathe a little easier. The clarity and focus that was silenced to internal and external clutter is way more useful and important than the ‘stuff’ used to pacify my discontent.

In moving forward, I plan on continuing giving up excuses and getting up off my ass. I won’t watch my life pass me by while I’m a bystander. I’m going to do something about it, and if you are in the same boat as me, I suggest you do the same too.